Police have closed around 200 drug dens across Russia since the start of March as part of efforts to combat rising drug use in the country, a Federal Drug Control Service spokesman said on Tuesday.

The number of drug-related crimes in Russia increased in 2009 to reach 238,000, around 2.5% more than in 2008, as the country struggles with increasing amounts of heroin trafficked from Afghanistan.

"Local residents help police reveal drug dens," Nikolai Kartashov said, adding it was not an "easy job."

In early March, the Federal Drug Control Service said there were some 550,000 drug addicts officially registered in Russia. Unofficial estimates are as high as 2.5 million, almost 2% of the Russian population.

The service described drug abuse as a "major threat" to the country's security.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Sverdlovsk region drug control service said local police had detained 170 people in a three-week special operation to fight drug crime in Sverdlovsk.

A total of 25 drug dens were closed and 19 criminal cases were opened as a result of the raids, the Sverdlovsk drug control service said in a statement. The suspects face up to four years in prison if found guilty for providing facilities for the consumption of narcotics.

According to the federal drug service, every year almost 75,000 Russians try drugs for the first time. Around 30,000 people die from drug related abuse ever year.

Afghanistan produces more than 90% of the world's opium and Russia blames NATO's tactics in the country for the recent rise in drug trafficking to and through Russia.

YEKATERINBURG, March 16 (RIA Novosti)